My name is Maggie McDonald. I was part of Hungary 8 serving from 1995-1997. Ours was the last group in Hungary. The Hungary mission was designed to be shorter as we were there primarily to help them transition from a communist system. Many of the TEFL volunteers were there to fill in while local teachers went back to school to learn English themselves.
My placement was in Mateszalka in North Eastern Hungary. I taught English in a vocational High School. I taught around 17 hours per week with an average class size of 35 students. Out of the 430 studenst I taught, only 20 were female. I was paired with a Hungarian teacher who taught all the grammer and I worked on verbal skills.
For my secondary work, I and another volunteer ran a monthly children's program at a nearby Bosnian Refugee camp. We received a grant from Levi's to purchase sports equipment, art supplies and books for the school. While lonely at times, I'd count my time in the Peace Corps as one of the most rewarding periods of my life and have made lifelong friends out of my fellow volunteers.